The present invention is in the field of computer systems and processes for managing real and personal property. One aspect of the invention is directed to capturing history of a (real) property, which may include a description of the property, the personal property located on the real property, the projects and maintenance performed or to be performed on the property and their impact on the owner's tax basis in the property. Another aspect of invention allows for sharing of this history with an online community and for transferring the history (or portions thereof) on sale to a buyer.
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11. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method comprising acts of:
(A) receiving input relating to one or more projects performed on a home, the home having an owner and a tax basis used in determining a gain or loss to the owner upon a sale of the home, the input comprising a cost associated with the one or more projects;
(B) automatically determining whether the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home; and
(C) in response to determining that the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home, automatically computing a sum of the cost associated with the one or more projects and the tax basis of the home, the sum representing an updated tax basis of the home, and storing the sum in at least one database.
1. A computer-implemented system for managing information relating to a home having an owner, the home having a tax basis used in computing a gain or loss to the owner upon a sale of the home, the system comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage media, storing instructions and data relating to the home, the data comprising the tax basis of the home; and
one or more computer processors, programmed via the instructions to:
receive input relating to one or more projects performed on the home, the input comprising a cost associated with the one or more projects;
automatically determine whether the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home;
in response to determining that the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home, automatically compute a sum of the cost associated with the one or more projects and the tax basis of the home, the sum representing an updated tax basis of the home, and store the sum in the one or more computer-readable storage media.
22. A method for managing information relating to a home having an owner, the home having a tax basis used in computing a gain or loss to the owner upon a sale of the home, the method comprising acts of:
(A) causing data to be stored, in one or more computer-readable storage media, the data comprising the tax basis of the home;
(B) receiving, by at least one processor, input relating to one or more projects performed on the home, the input comprising a cost associated with the one or more projects;
(C) automatically determining, by the at least one processor, whether the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home;
(D) in response to determining that the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home, automatically computing, by the at least one processor, a sum of the cost associated with the one or more projects and the tax basis of the home, the sum representing an updated tax basis of the home; and
(E) causing, by the at least one processor, the sum to be stored in the one or more computer- readable storage media.
32. A method for managing information relating to a home having an owner, the home having a tax basis used in computing a gain or loss to the owner upon a sale of the home, the method comprising acts of:
(A) causing information to be stored in one or more databases, the information comprising first tax information relating to the home before one or more projects are performed on the home, second tax information relating to the home after the one or more projects were performed, and audit information relating to the first and second tax information, the first tax information and second tax information each comprising one or more of a date and a numerical value expressed in a currency, the audit information providing a summary of the first tax information and the second tax information;
(B) receiving, by at least one processor of a computing system, first input relating to one or more projects performed on the home, the first input comprising costs associated with the one or more projects;
(C) automatically determining, by the at least one processor, whether the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home;
(D) in response to determining that the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home, automatically adding, by the at least one processor, the costs associated with the one or more projects to first tax information for the home to produce a sum; and
(E) causing to be stored, in the one or more databases, the sum as the second tax information, the difference between the first tax information and the second tax information representing an increase or decrease to the tax basis of the home.
38. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for managing information relating to a home having an owner, the home having a tax basis used in computing a gain or loss to the owner upon a sale of the home, the method comprising acts of:
(A) causing information to be stored in one or more databases, the information comprising first tax information relating to the home before one or more projects are performed on the home, second tax information relating to the home after the one or more projects were performed, and audit information relating to the first and second tax information, the first tax information and second tax information each comprising one or more of a date and a numerical value expressed in a currency, the audit information providing a summary of the first tax information and the second tax information;
(B) receiving first input relating to one or more projects performed on the home, the first input comprising costs associated with the one or more projects;
(C) automatically determining whether the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home;
(D) in response to determining that the one or more projects result in an improvement to the home, automatically adding the costs associated with the one or more projects to first tax information for the home to produce a sum; and
(E) causing to be stored, in the one or more databases, the sum as the second tax information, the difference between the first tax information and the second tax information representing an increase or decrease to the tax basis of the home.
2. The computer-implemented system of
3. The computer-implemented system of
4. The computer-implemented system of
5. The computer-implemented system of
6. The computer-implemented system of
7. The computer-implemented system of
8. The computer-implemented system of
9. The computer-implemented system of
10. The computer-implemented system of
12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
15. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
16. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
17. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
18. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
19. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
20. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
21. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
23. The method of
24. The method of
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37. The method of
receiving further input relating to an additional project performed on the home, the further input comprising costs associated with the additional project;
automatically determining whether the additional project results in an improvement to the home;
in response to determining that the additional project results in an improvement to the home, automatically adding the costs associated with the additional project to the second tax information to produce a sum, and causing the sum to be stored as third tax information;
causing data comprising a tax basis audit trail to be stored in the one or more databases, the tax basis audit trail data comprising a date, project information, and a numerical value expressed in a currency associated with each of the first tax information, the second tax information and the third tax information.
39. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
40. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
41. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
42. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
43. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of
receiving further input relating to an additional project performed on the home, the further input comprising costs associated with the additional project;
automatically determining whether the additional project results in an improvement to the home;
in response to determining that the additional project results in an improvement to the home, automatically adding the costs associated with the additional project to the second tax information to produce a sum, and causing the sum to be stored as third tax information;
causing data comprising a tax basis audit trail to be stored in the one or more databases, the tax basis audit trail data comprising a date, project information, and a numerical value expressed in a currency associated with each of the first tax information, the second tax information and the third tax information.
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This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/156,552, entitled REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME, filed May 17, 2016, which is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/856,703, entitled REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME, filed Apr. 4, 2013, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/451,946, entitled REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME, filed Aug. 25, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,442,921, which is a national stage entry of PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US2008/007172, entitled REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME, filed Jun. 6, 2008, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/933,728, entitled REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME, filed Jun. 8, 2007. The entirety of each of the preceding documents is incorporated herein by reference.
The maintenance of, and transactions in, real estate are mostly conducted by archaic, inefficient means, namely by person-to-person communications between the owner and the service providers (e.g., tradespeople) or a prospective buyer or a broker. There are very few, if any, homes that have a complete history maintained for them over a significant period of time because it is a manual, paper-intensive process. Most homeowners are not great at keeping records, let alone doing so over long periods of time.
Yet, homeownership for many people represents the single largest, most important investment they will make in their lives. Quite importantly, when a property owner sells its property, good records of work done on the property can have considerable value. Such records may influence how much a buyer is willing to pay for the property.
Somewhat surprisingly, someone searching for a home to purchase has access only to minimal information available about the prospective homes for sale and even less for homes not currently for sale. Once someone purchases a home, the purchaser (except in the case of a new home or in a few exceptional cases) assumes ownership of the home with incomplete information about the home's systems, inventory and the history of services and projects executed on the home.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system that facilitates the input and accumulation of information pertaining to real property, updatable by the owner, under the secure control of the owner and preferably transferable to a potential or actual buyer.
Technology has heretofore been employed only to a quite limited extent to aid prospective or actual home buyers or homeowners. In general, current computing systems supporting real property management are focused on facilitating advertisement and sale of property. The property owner can often post property for sale on-line on a multi-list service. Buyers can search for for-sale properties meeting their criteria.
Some computerized systems can also be used for predicting property values. These computing systems attempt to assess the historical buy/sell information about a home compared to like homes in its area and estimate a present-dollar value for a home. The estimates based on home improvements are not specific to the actual work performed or to the target market of the home nor are the definitions of the home and actual and/or potential improvements transferable to a new buyer of the home. Such numbers cannot provide basis-adjustment data.
Other real estate-related software/computer systems have been developed, such as those incorporating special algorithms for disclosing detrimental conditions affecting property; allowing for managing and preparing documentation for real estate transactions; those for coordinating real estate sales and rentals; etc.
Potential home buyers have many computing systems available to them to research available homes. However, these systems provide few, if any, historical or ancillary details that would aid the potential home buyer in his or her decision-making process. A new tool emerging for homeowners and buyers attempts to facilitate home price comparisons, but price fairness is only one of many factors relevant to a purchase decision.
Some computing systems help homeowners to connect with service providers. These various computing systems include those that provide for posting projects to an open market of providers (e.g., on a web site) who connect with the homeowner if the project interests them. Some also provide tools for the homeowner to review providers by viewing the reviews of other homeowners. These computing systems, however, don't provide a complete, or at least somewhat comprehensive, cohesive, historical view of a home's projects and the results and details of those projects, including who executed the project, which can be shared with other homeowners and/or passed on to subsequent owners of the home.
There are other computing systems supporting documentation of a home's inventory. These computing systems, so far as we are aware, do not provide for the transferal of this information to a new owner; neither do they provide mechanisms to tie into the point-of-sale of goods bought and sold either on-line or otherwise.
Current computing systems thus do not provide a mechanism or methodology for documenting, retaining, presenting and managing real property, its projects, and its contents as an asset which ultimately may be conveyed from the owner of a home to the next purchaser of that home.
To address the foregoing needs and deficiencies of prior art, there is described herein a system, method and apparatus for documenting, managing, searching, and presenting real (and related personal) property information in an on-line network, supporting ultimate transfer of this information from an owner-seller to a buyer.
One aspect of the present invention is a method, computer system and computer-implemented procedure and data structures enabling a property owner or a designee of a property owner (e.g., renter or a lessee), herein referred to as “user”, to describe one or more properties in a database. The database may be private or public, network or stand-alone, open or controlled access. Selected information may be locked down for only authorized access even if the database is on a public server. The database may be accessed via, or published on, a public online forum, for example, the worldwide web. A related aspect of the invention is a method, computer system and computer-implemented procedure and data structures enabling the user to identify which aspects of their home description are to remain private and which are to be public. Another related aspect of the invention is a method, computer system and computer-implemented procedure and data structures enabling an interested party to find real properties stored in the public forum and to display information about those real properties.
Another aspect of the invention is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability to define one's belongings, or inventory, in the home or otherwise. A related aspect of the invention is computer-implemented procedures to support either manual entry of inventory item information through interaction with the user interface or partially or completely populated item information and downloading such information obtained by decoding a universal product code (UPC) associated with the item.
One aspect of the invention is a system for maintaining property information, comprising (a) one or more databases configured to receive and store property information; (b) a server operatively connected to one or more databases for receiving data to be written to the database and for delivering to a user data from said database; (c) a communication system operatively connecting one or more remote users to the server for writing to or reading from the database; (d) a property ownership locking mechanism limiting control of certain property information to a current record owner of said property; and (d) a property ownership transfer mechanism operable to change the current record owner of a property from a first user to a second user.
In one embodiment, property may be real property and/or personal property related to the real property. Property information may include property history data. Property history information may include, for example, one or more of purchase price, tax assessments, details of improvements made (e.g., plans, cost, contractors), equipment purchase details (e.g., appliances), tradespeople who provided services, etc. A communication system may include one or more communication devices, such as, for example, modems, network cards, faxes, phones and combinations thereof.
In some example embodiments for practicing at least some aspects of the invention, one or more databases are provided for storing property history information comprising real property information and information relating to one or more projects executed on the real property. And in some example embodiments, one or more databases may also be provided for storing information relating to one or more projects not yet executed on the real property.
In one aspect, the system may further include a subsystem comprising, for example, a server and a communication device which captures (preferably automatically, from time to time) at least some of the property history information directly or indirectly from publicly accessible data.
In one aspect of the invention, the property ownership locking mechanism is adapted to be operated by the current record owner of the property to establish user access controls to limit access to selected property information to specific users or groups of users.
In another aspect of the invention, the property ownership locking mechanism is further adapted to be operated by a current record owner of the property to establish user access controls to limit the type of access selected users or groups of users have to selected property information.
In one aspect, the invention relates to a method comprising acts of capturing property information on one or more storage devices operably connected to a computer system, where the property information is or may be related to multiple properties of (e.g.,) multiple users, and the capturing of the information includes establishing access controls configurable by a record owner of a property to control access to the information by users of the computer system; a record owner of property configuring access to the information; and transferring record ownership of the property from a first user to a second user. Such a computer system may, without limitation, include two or more users at a same or in different locations, using computing devices such as personal computers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants or the like in direct or indirect communication with each other and/or one or more servers via one or more communications networks. The one or more storage devices may be at a single location or multiple locations, as well.
In one aspect of the invention, capturing property information includes capturing information about a property at different times over a span of time. In another aspect of the invention, capturing property information includes receiving input from the record owner. Yet, in another aspect of the invention, capturing property information includes obtaining at least some of the property information from publicly accessible records.
In one aspect of the invention, transferring record ownership of the property from a first user to a second user comprises changing record owner information pertaining to the property in a database. In another aspect of the invention, transferring record ownership of the property does not transfer ownership of information marked as private.
In one aspect of the invention, prior to transferring record ownership of the property from a first user to a second user, information is removed from the property information by the record owner, to maintain privacy of the removed information. An embodiment of a method according to the invention may include a step of archiving the property information so that the removed information remains accessible to the previous record owner of the property.
One aspect of the invention is a method for maintaining property information, comprising steps of operating a computer system to create a first data structure in a data store, in some non-limiting examples referred to as a Property Table, containing information comprising an identifier of a physical location of a real property component of the property and a description of the real property; operating the same or a different computer system to create a second data structure in the same or a different data store, in some non-limiting examples referred to as a Property Area Table, which contains information comprising an identifier of a structure and/or a layout of the structure at said physical location; and operating the same or a different computer system to create a third data structure in the same or a different data store, in some non-limiting examples referred to as an Inventory Table, containing information comprising an identification of one or more items of personal property located at the real property, and optionally, in a computer system, identifying a first user and creating an association between the information in the first, second and third data structures with the first user, the association establishing the first user as the owner and controller of access to the information; and, also, optionally, in a computer system, identifying a second user and changing the association from the first user to the second user to change the identity of the owner and controller of the information. The first, second and third data structures may be distinct data structures or two or more of the first, second and third data structures may be portions of a common data structure, such as separate fields in a common table or file.
In one aspect of the invention, the method may further comprise a step of, optionally, operating a computer to create a further data structure accessible to the first user and to store therein a copy of the information in at least one of the first, second and third data structures prior to changing the association. The first, second, third and any further data structures may be stored on one or more computer-accessible storage devices and are configured to form a history of the real property.
In another aspect of the invention, the method may, optionally, further comprise steps of identifying a first user and creating an association between the information in the first, second and third data structures with the first user, the association establishing the first user as the owner and controller of access to the information, in a computer system; and enabling the first user to create a trusted community of users who are granted access to at least portions of the information in at least one of the first, second and third data structures, according to access authorizations defined and administered by the first user, in a computer system.
In another aspect of the invention, the method, optionally, further comprises steps of providing a web site at which a user may interact with the data structures, and via which a user may enter a project specification accessible by service providers, to solicit bids from service providers.
In one aspect of the invention, the method further includes operating a computer system to create a fourth data structure containing a collection of information pertaining to one or more projects executed on the property.
In one aspect of the invention the data structures are stored on one or more computer-accessible storage devices and are configured to form a history of the real property.
Another embodiment of a system for practicing some aspects of the invention involves to a computer-implemented system for property owners and property-related service providers to interact, comprising steps of a first computer-interactable data structure configured and arranged for receiving from one or more service providers indications of their capabilities or types of projects for which the provider is interested in being hired; and a second computer-interactable data structure configured and arranged for receiving from the service provider identifications of one or more associated service providers proposed to operate on behalf of the service provider.
The system may, optionally, include means for serving up to a user a web page containing at least some of the service provider information and a link to a home page for the service provider. The system may, optionally, include means for serving up to a service provider user an interface for entering into the first data structure indicia of the types of projects for which the provider is interested in being hired and means for inserting corresponding text on the home page of the provider. The service provider may fill out a table, for example a table on a web page, to populate the database so that the provider's information could be linked to provider's home page.
The system may, optionally, include a project generation module which receives from a user, via a computer-implemented user interface on a web page, a project identifier and project-related information of the user, and stores the project identifier and project-related information of the user in a data store. The project-related information may include data of various types including text, audio and video data and links to other date, which may be contained in one or more computer-readable files.
In one aspect of the invention, the project-related information may be input by the user at various times, thereby allowing the history of a project to be recorded.
In another aspect of the invention, the system may further include means for receiving project information from a service provider in electronic form to facilitate archiving the information.
In another aspect of the invention, the system may further include a file import module which is usable to import computer files and associate them with a project identifier as project-related information.
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the discussion which follows.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Descriptions in certain embodiments for practicing aspects of the invention will be discussed below. The examples should not be considered limiting, but are intended to illustrate certain inventive aspects. It will be useful to appreciate, in reading the detailed description, that certain words or terms have defined meanings unless another meaning is apparent.
Except as appears otherwise from the context, a property “owner” is a person or entity who creates and controls a property record in a system according to method taught herein, whether or not owing legal title.
“Computer” or “computer system” as used herein shall mean one or more computing devices, regardless of the number and location of processing elements. For example and without limitation, the term computer or computer system includes personal computers, computer networks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones (whether smart phones, PDA phones or regular digital cell phones), web TV, portable e-mail devices, and so forth. A computer system may provide access to two or more users at different computers in a same or different locations, in direct or indirect contact with a server(s) and/or each other via a network (for example, the global internet and its World Wide Web).
“User computer” as used herein shall mean a computer that is employed by a user to perform any function using the property management software.
“Database” as used herein indicates any organized data structure or structures used for storing and retrieving information having a predefined meaning. Without limitation, a database may be a flat file structure, a relational structure, or any other form of information storage.
“Property Information” may include, but it is not limited to information about real property and personal property associated with real property, for example, address, home type, price, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, lot size, architectural style, square footage, age of home, type of air conditioning, closets, driveways, fireplace, garden, plumbing, roof, exterior, floor, heat, parking, pool, sewer, personal property inventory and other information.
“Property History Data” may include, but it is not limited to sales or rental price information from previous transactions, the timing and type and costs of home improvement projects executed on the property, previous damage from Force Majeure to the property and information for home improvement projects marked-up, but not yet executed on the property.
“Property ownership locking mechanism” may include, but it is not limited to, a set of data attributes and/or software protocol limiting access to property history data to the record owner and others, whose access is defined by record owner. As used herein, “property ownership locking mechanism” may also include a server, a set of computer instructions and one or more communication devices, wherein the set of computer instructions restricts communication of property history data to various categories of users.
In one aspect, the invention includes a system, a method and an apparatus for defining, managing and transferring, through either sale or lease, one or more properties, particularly real property and related personal property. The invention also relates to systems for maintaining, trading, selling, and/or leasing property. In one embodiment, a computer network system and software structure and information processing method are provided that enable a plurality of users to maintain, trade, sell, or lease a property or properties and/or transfer the history of a property or properties.
Referring to
The User Controls component 100 represents a mechanism by means of which someone or something may be operatively connected to the Home Management System component 101 to command the application to perform certain tasks. The User Controls component 100 could be operating on a personal computer or a server using a Windows, Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, or other operating system, or a web-enabled cell phone, wireless communication device or other personal digital assistant, and/or any other computer. The User Controls component 100 may be operatively connected to the internet and/or some other private and/or public network(s) via one or more communication devices.
The Home Management System component 101 represents the component that performs the functions supporting the property management functions described herein. The External Support Services component 102 represents any system providing general functionality used by the Home Management System 101 to help realize the property management functions described herein. in one example, the External Support Services component 102 could be a web site supporting integration of scripting language (e.g., Google Maps) directly on the page, a system providing function calls integrated into the Home Application System component 101 either on a page or embedded in the server application, or a combination of same.
In some embodiments, the Home Management System component 101 contains one or more computers, servers and/or one or more storage devices containing one or more databases configured to receive and store property information, a communication system operatively connected to the internet and/or some other private and/or public network(s) and, thus, optionally, operatively connected to one or more remote users, containing one or more databases of one or more of registered owners, registered properties, improvement or repair projects executed and/or to be executed on registered properties, personal property located on registered properties, preferred or registered vendors and one or more service providers such as general contractors, repairmen, plumbers, electricians, security companies, painters, gardeners, mortgage brokers, appliances dealers and installers, etc, and one or more communication device(s) enabling system access through the world wide web and/or some other private and/or public network(s) and system output through world wide web or some other private and/or public network(s), e-mail, telephone, fax systems and/or any other means of communication.
In some embodiments, the Home Management System component 101 may be further decomposed in
One example of Database subsystem 208 is further expanded in
According to one embodiment, the system may provide for different categories of users in User Table 303, the categories having different privileges, for example, access and output privileges defined by the system owner. For example, the system may differentiate between guests and secured or authenticated users, and sub-differentiate between secured users using property ownership locking mechanism. In some embodiments, for example, the system administrator may grant only viewing, or limited viewing, privileges to guest users and various limited privileges to secured users who do not have any property in Property Table 305, such as, for example, service providers and prospective home buyers, with authenticator sellers having other privileges.
According to some embodiments, as in
According to one aspect of the invention, Database subsystem 208 initially may be populated using a Populater subsystem (unmarked) which captures the property history information directly or indirectly from publicly accessible data. Capturing directly or indirectly includes, but is not limited to, receiving information from websites, such as county websites, or electronic feeds in either electronic form that can be imported into the system according to an algorithm, or in a form of a printout. As used herein, publicly accessible data includes public and private records accessible to the system such as, for example, freely accessible records and records accessible on a fee-for-service or subscription basis. Alternatively, or before or after capturing the property history information directly or indirectly from publicly accessible data, Database system 208 may be populated by the record owner, or a user whom the record owner delegates the authorization to update property information. For example, such a delegate might be a service provider who executed a project on a property; that person would enter information about one or more properties—e.g., at different times over a span of time.
In one type of embodiment, as exemplified in
In some embodiments, the User Table 303 may contain a flag or other indicator which may be used to provide a signal that allows or requires the taking of the inventory and populating an Inventory Table 306 to record personal property located on a Property listed in Property Table 305. The requirement for an inventory may be linked to, or limited by, the presence of an indicator that the home owner has an insurance policy for an inventory covering destruction or damage of personal property. The system may provide for an automated inventory delivery to an insurance company upon a user's request. The system may, optionally, provide to the user an assessment of the insurance coverage the user currently has compared to the value of the items maintained in the Inventory Table 306.
According to some embodiments exemplified in
The User Table 303 may contain a flag or other indicator used to signal that periodic and or ‘event-triggered’ updates to the Inventory Table 306 and Files 304 are required. “Event-triggered” updates, as understood herein, include, but are not limited to, updates after capital improvements, natural disasters, damage done to personal property, or purchase of assets in excess of a threshold amount, for example, $1000.00.
According to some embodiments, a user may conduct and/or define any number of home projects or maintenance activities. In
In some embodiments there may be a plurality of service providers as members in the system. In some embodiments according to
One aspect of the present invention is the ability for a property owner, manager or renter, herein referred to as “user”, to describe one or more properties to be published on a public online forum, for example, at a site on the world-wide web. Prior to publication, a person or entity preferably is required to join the system using a process such as the process defined in
Other aspects of the invention include a method, computer system and computer-implemented procedure and data structures providing the ability for a user to define a trusted community of people who are to be informed once the user publishes a property and who may subsequently view all or limited details of the property. The level of viewing privileges is set by the property owner using property ownership locking mechanism. On publishing a property, all participants in the public forum, trusted or not, can view the property, but only on the basis defined by the owner of the property, e.g., the owner may limit the information seen by various categories of users using a property ownership locking mechanism.
According to some embodiments for practicing aspects of the invention, the system may provide a network-based bulletin board system to exchange information on, for example, property maintenance, improvements, and/or service providers. Such a bulletin board also provides a forum for property owners to ask home improvement questions from service providers. As defined in the “join” process exemplified above, a user may define one or more Trusted Communities in Table 315. One example of the process to create and add members to Trusted Communities Table 315 is defined in
In some embodiments for practicing aspects of the invention, the property owner may register property on a system using User Controls 100, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
Next, in step 403 a default room/area layout is created, either based on the style of dwelling defined or on a single default layout, preferably then displayed to the user in step 404. The point of the pre-creation of the room/area layout is to simplify the initial creation of a Property Table 305. The user may edit the layout in step 405, deleting/adding rooms, areas and/or floors, while also renaming rooms and/or areas as they desire, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
As illustrated in
Another aspect of the invention is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability to upload images, videos, sounds or documents, herein referred to as “files”, to associate with the property, with a room in the home, with an area of the property, with an inventory item or with a home project, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
An unlimited number of computer files could be stored or limits could be placed to allow only a certain number of computer files and/or a limited amount of absolute storage provided to each type of computer file or collectively across all computer file types.
Some embodiments, for example, as illustrated in
Once the files are uploaded or referenced, one embodiment enables the user to create a presentation of the home. This presentation could be constructed from one or more of the files associated with the property, the areas, the projects and/or the inventory items. The presentation could be on the property, one or more rooms in the home, one or more other areas of the property, one or more inventory items, and/or one or more home projects, or any combination of same, really whatever the user would like to present. The user could create either a limited or unlimited number of presentations and associate a particular presentation with the property, with a room in the home, with an area of the property, with the inventory, with an item in the inventory or with a particular project in the home. In one specific example, the presentation may be a virtual tour of the property exemplified by sequential presentation of files. A virtual tour may be made available for viewing by members of the Trusted Community. A virtual tour may or may not be active until the property is placed “on sale” or “for “rent.” Subsequent to placing property “on sale” or “for “rent,” a virtual tour may be conducted by a prospective buyer, prospective renter or a real estate agent from a remote terminal operatively connected to the internet and/or other private or public network, after a prospective buyer, renter or a real estate agent selects a number of properties on the system for a comparative review. Optionally, the virtual tour feature may allow the user to select between ‘furnished’ video option, where the original files are of the furnished property, and ‘unfurnished’ option, where any furniture present in the files is digitally removed from files.
Optionally, the virtual tour feature may allow the user to select a “my furniture” option or the like that allows the user to place digital emulations of the user's furniture into an unfurnished version of the virtual tour. The system may allow the user to print out the floor plan of the Property 305 with the ‘my furniture’ selections marked up to the plan, or directly communicate the plan to the moving company to facilitate desired placing of furniture during the move.
Another aspect of the invention is the ability to define one's belongings, or inventory, in the home or otherwise, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
In step 703, if the user is editing the inventory manually, the item is displayed, 706, and the user is allowed to edit the attributes, 711, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
If not editing manually, as determined at test 703, and the item details are coming from a document, as determined at 705 then the system will select at 708 passer that is a pre-configured using configuration 709 for the source of the document. The valid document types provided by the source may be any formats used for document storage and recall such as DOC, PDF, RTF, TXT, XLS, MPP, ZIP, PPT, XML, HTML and the like. The contents of the document from a source would be specific to the source and would have to be enabled for logical parsing indicated at 712 such that the item details are readily extracted from the document and applied to Inventory Item entry 307. The format of the source document could be agreed upon by the source and the system as, for example, with an interface definition. This source document can be downloaded by the user or sent automatically by the source to this system.
If not parsing a document, determined at 705, and the item details are determined to be coming from a universal product code (UPC) at 704, then either an image of the UPC code is to be processed or the UPC string is available and processed directly. If processing an image, per test 707, then first the UPC string must be extracted from the image, act 710. There are many commercially-available solutions for act 710. The next act 714, is executed which now parses the UPC string in character form to extract the product information from the string and populate an Inventory Item entry 307. The UPC is an international standard with many commercially-available (and in some cases, free) software solutions which should be applied. Once the Inventory Item entry 307 is created and/or edited either manually or from a document or from a UPC then the user can upload at act 600 zero or more files to associate or reference with an Inventory Item entry 307. When done, step 713, the Inventory Item entry 307 is saved.
Another aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability to manage the monetary value associated with the inventory, both from a purchase-price point of view and market value. This aspect may include providing the user with the ability to automatically integrate with both online (e.g., Amazon.com) and traditional “brick-and-mortar” stores (e.g., Home Depot, Sears, and the like) and buy/sell marketplaces (e.g., eBay, auction houses, et. al.) to track their buying and selling of inventory items.
Another aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the ability to integrate the selling of items in the inventory with one or more third-party buy-sell online forums (e.g., eBay).
Another aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the ability to integrate the buying of items from one or more third-party, online marketplaces (e.g., Amazon.com) and either automatically or manually update the user's inventory on purchase. To use automatic services, the user would have to have setup an account on the third-party marketplace and inform the system of the account information as previously defined in
Another aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the ability to integrate the buying of items from one or more third-party, in-person marketplaces (e.g., Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, et. al.) and either automatically or manually update the user's inventory on purchase. To use automatic services, the user would have to set up an account on the in-person marketplace and inform the system of the account information
A further aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the ability to integrate the user's inventory with one or more third party, in-person marketplaces (e.g., a so-called “brick and mortar store such as a lumber yard, hardware store, building supplies store, etc.). In a non-limiting example, the in-person marketplace provides customers/users electronic information about the inventory of the marketplace at a specific location, i.e., a marketplace inventory (e.g., an inventory of items offered, ongoing sales, and inventory layout within a specific location). Customers may access their account while in the marketplace to view aspects of their property and/or inventory, e.g., a supply inventory comprising one or more lists items generally need or desired, e.g., for the home or other personal property items unrelated to the home, e.g., items that may be needed to complete a particular project. Simultaneously, customers may access the information provided by the in-person marketplace to locate an item listed in the user's inventory within the specific in-person marketplace. In one embodiment, the user accesses the user's property, inventory or home project information contained in a data table via any suitable portable internet-capable device, e.g., smart phone, wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone or other handheld communication device, etc., and the system notifies the user visiting a selected in-person marketplace of the current supply inventory listed in a data table. Alternatively or additionally, the portable device queries the system as to whether an item listed in the user's inventory is available in a given in-person marketplace or a section of a particular in-person marketplace. Once the sales transaction is completed, the in-store marketplace can email a receipt or a duplicate receipt for the transaction directly to the user's account. In addition, the in-store marketplace can email additional product information to the user's account, including but not limited to, product specifications or a product or service quotation or bid.
Thus, according to this aspect of the invention, a method is provided for managing property information comprising operating a computer system to create a data structure in a data store containing information comprising a supply inventory pertaining to for example, items generally needed or desired, e.g., for the home or other personal property items unrelated to the home, or items needed or desired for one or more projects to be executed on said property. The method may further comprise operating a computer system to create an additional data structure in a data store containing information comprising a marketplace inventory of a third party marketplace. The additional data structure is optionally provided by a computer-interactable data structure configured and arranged for receiving from the third party marketplace said marketplace inventory. In one embodiment, a user may access said supply inventory via a portable internet-capable device. The user may also access said marketplace inventory via such a portable internet-capable device. Optionally, the user may access said supply inventory and said marketplace inventories simultaneously. In an alternate embodiment, the user may revise said supply inventory via said portable internet-capable device and in some embodiments, the user may supply information to a data structure via email. In addition, the third party marketplace may email product information to a data structure, wherein said product information is selected from the group consisting of a receipt, a quotation for a product or service, product specifications, and combinations thereof.
Another aspect of the invention with regard to inventory is the ability to manage the monetary value associated with the inventory, both from a purchase-price point of view and market value. The market value could be manually set by the user or automatically set by an algorithm which monitors one or more third-party open buy-sell online forums (e.g., eBay) to determine the current market value for an item.
Another aspect of the invention is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures which provide the ability to document and execute home projects. Such procedures include, for example, tracking changes to the homeowner's tax basis in the home based on past and present project work. They may also include submitting entered projects for bid to service providers participating in the public forum, such as, for example, by communicating this information via the World Wide Web or a public or private network.
The ability to document and execute projects on the property is another aspect of the invention, illustrated in a non-limiting example of
In
At this point, the definition of the project is complete and the user decides, in step 811, to either submit the project for bid or just save it for a later submission, possibly never submitting the bid. According to some embodiments, the system may automatically formulate a project bid and forward it to registered service providers using communication devices and/or post it for service providers in the Trusted Community. The system may then collect bids and allow the user to review bids and select a service provider. The selection may be assisted by using computer algorithms based on bid price, rank ordering or combination thereof.
With regard to the uploaded or referenced files, the user could organize the files of the project into one or more folders associated with a project, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of
In
Another aspect with regard to home projects is the ability to track changes to the home's tax basis based on the project work. The user will be able to manually change the basis modification for each project, for example, through a WORLD WIDE WEB page interface, as illustrated in a non-limiting example of “Edit Home” screens in
Another aspect of the system is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability for service providers to join the public forum to receive project leads from users. Additionally service providers are providing the ability to help them market their services by providing them the tools to create one or more portfolios with associated files.
According to one more aspect, service providers may also join the system so as to market their services and receive project leads. According to one specific example, a service provider may be a member of the public forum. Service providers include, but are not limited to, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, landscapers, painters, handymen, architects, inspectors, insect and/or rodent exterminators, cleaners, realtors, tax advisors, lawyers or any person, company or organization who provides or wishes to provide services to users of the public forum. A service provider will preferably identify one or more persons as the administrator(s) of the company or organization relative to the system. The administrator would be responsible for the setting up the account for the company or organization and also defining associates of the company or organization who will operate on the public forum as representatives of the company or organization. In one example, in step 1005 a service provider administrator's information would be the same as that for a normal User 303 but additional information will be required with regard to the Organization 302 including but not limited to company name, description, email address, fax number, address, web link, and credit card information for billing purposes. Once the general information is provided, the administrator can create one or more associates in step 1006, who will represent the Organization 302 on the public forum. Next the administrator can create one or more portfolios, step 1007 to help market the company's services, using folder mechanisms illustrated at process 900 in
Another (optional) aspect of the system is data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability for the user to post reviews of service providers and share those reviews with the public forum. These reviews can be associated with a project defined by the user or not.
With service providers in the system, a user may post ratings on one or more service providers as defined in
Preferably, a user may choose to view only the service provider ratings they have captured in the system, or select service providers or service providers with minimum rating values or other filtered information or service providers (e.g., only electricians who complete projects on time and on budget).
The system may enable the user to choose a preferred service provider manually, or allow the system to select a service provider automatically according to the internal ranking system and time availability. The system may enable the user to specifically disallow selected providers from automatic selection. The user preferably may specify the selection criteria, e.g., price, ranking, speed, etc. for automatic selection. The system may enable the user to import scheduling flexibility options and/or set up any searchable cut-off criteria for selecting a service provider.
According to one aspect of the invention, users may add service providers to the system. The user would fill out a user registration for the provider, for example, as defined in
With service providers in the system and users submitting projects, the system provides a mechanism to post project leads to potential service providers who perform the type of work being requested. As illustrated in
Manifestly, users provide the system with information that in the aggregate could prove to be of significant value to marketing entities. Selling aggregated, non-personalized information (or, with permission, personalized information) could be a significant revenue source for the system. In one example, the system may generate an activity map of real estate transactions displaying frequency and/or volume of sales/rentals, average price per property or per square footage of property, etc. mapped onto a geographic map or other data structure (e.g., zip code listing). Also, integrated advertisements could be an essential revenue source for the system. These ads could be general in nature (meaning, not specific to the user viewing the information) and/or specifically targeted to an individual based on the data they provide to the system. Open access to an individual's personal data in the system must be controlled by the user to the level they wish to publish their personal information, as previously mentioned. As defined in
Another aspect of the invention is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability to produce aggregated market data about all users of the system along with providing advertisements for users both general in nature and targeted to a user based on the information the user has provided the system. This includes the data structures and computer-implemented algorithms for determining a measure of economic benefit to be provided to one or more users of the system.
In one aspect of the invention, the system provides a measure of economic benefit to users based on their participation in one or more revenue-generating services. This measure of economic benefit could take the form of cash, stock grant(s), stock option(s), bonds (US, municipal and/or corporate), and/or coupons for goods, services, vacations, meals, events, cars, anything an individual might see economic benefit in receiving, or some combination of same. The measure of economic benefit to a particular user could be established by the level of revenue generated for the company that can be directly attributed to the user's participation in revenue-generating services of the system.
To capture user opt-in or opt-out with regard to data aggregation services,
To capture user opt-in or opt-out with regard to advertisements or other pay content,
According to one aspect of the invention, the system may determine the measure of economic benefit to a user from the opt-in information 320. In one example, this determination could take the opt-in information and the level of participation for each user and base the benefit on that level. In the opt-in information, the system could track the actual revenue generated by each viewing and provide some percentage of each viewing to the user. In another example, the measure of economic benefit could also be uniformly distributed to all opt-in users regardless of level of participation or actual revenue generated. In another example, the measure of economic benefit also could be uniformly distributed to all users regardless of opt-in or opt-out status. This measure of economic benefit could also be limited to certain users of the system, for example, celebrities from movies, music, news, sports, television, literature, business, art or the like. To expand, celebrities or any user could be enticed to provide property information to the system by a measure of economic benefit which could be tied to the revenue their information actually generates and/or could potentially generate.
Another optional aspect of the invention is the ability for municipal governments to publish on a public forum the details of properties in their jurisdiction. As exemplified in
One example, of the processing of each county populater is defined in
One example of the saving of the municipality property data is defined in
According to some embodiments, a user in the system could generate a report of one or more of their properties as defined in
According to certain embodiments, some properties in the system are viewable by the general public. But at certain times a property owner may decide to sell their property and it would be advantageous for the general public to be so informed. The system may therefore provide the user the ability to “self-list” their property for sale. One example of a process 1200 for self-listing is defined in
In certain embodiments, the system enables a user interested in buying property to review a Property in Property Table 305, including certified property surveys, property inspections and property appraisals. In some embodiments, the system provides for continuous data mining features including recurring online automatic search capabilities for open houses that meet certain user-defined selection criteria. In another embodiment, the potential buyer may be automatically profiled by the system and certain listed properties may be suggested as falling within categories of his preference (e.g., price, location, number of bedrooms, land/house ratio).
The system also enables the prospective buyer/lessor to submit bids on the property on line.
According to one embodiment, the system enables the user selling his property to select a type of transaction service. The user may select a closed auction, where the owner can view the bids and then contact individual bidders directly, or an open auction, where a bidder can bid against each other up from the lowest price, or an open auction starting at high price and lowering the price once an hour till the first bid is placed.
According to some embodiments for practicing aspects of the invention, the system may provide security to the property owner by requiring bidders to place a predetermined amount of money, for example 10% of the starting bid price, in case the bidder winning the auction does not go forward with the transaction.
In one embodiment, the system may automatically obtain and post on the system a municipal tax assessment of the property using a populater 1101. The system may specifically provide for electronic delivery of all documents required for a real estate transaction.
Another aspect of the invention is the data structures and computer-implemented procedures providing the ability for the user, on completion of sale, to transfer the complete description of the property, project history and conveying inventory to the person or entity buying the home, such history being contained in one or more databases on one or more storage devices and/or on one or more servers operably connected to the internet, or other public or private network(s). The previous homeowner may retain a copy of the home information for his/her/their records but the public account of the home in the forum would, on transfer, belong to the new owner of the home. In one aspect of the invention, a user would retain a copy of the home information for all previously owned properties for their records, and this information would be readily available, for example, as illustrated in the non-limiting example of
Once a user has sold or otherwise transferred ownership of a property stored in the system, according to some embodiments, the seller transfers the stored information to the new owner for all or an agreed part of the property history including descriptions, supplemental data and all public files of the property, rooms, other areas, conveying inventory, and projects. The seller may, of course, choose to delete or maintain as private and not transfer selected information such as, for example, the cost of a particular home improvement. In this way, the new owner may start with a complete or at least substantial record of the home on purchase. One example of a process 1220 for transferring a property from one user to another is defined in
In some embodiments for practicing aspects of the invention, upon sale of a property, the system will generate a transfer key code linked to all material non-private information associated with the property. The transfer key code is delivered to the new owner at closing. The new owner, upon signing onto the system, is enabled to use the transfer key code to import the entire history of the property into his account including all inventory for the personal property identified as being conveyed. In some embodiments, the transfer may be accomplished by changing attributes of the property ownership locking mechanism upon receipt of a transfer key to allow one or more communication devices to communicate complete property history data contained in a Property container 305 to a new owner and to communicate the property history data to the transferor only to the extent allowed by a new owner of the property.
The overall application as depicted in
To further illustrate an example deployment of the Home Management System 101, in
Although the present invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments for practicing it, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the claims that follow. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the invention in any way be limited by the above description, but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
Vock, Michael, Wohlstadter, Jacob, Christiansen, Bradley, Lovell, Craig Philip, Osganian, Michael
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| Dec 31 2003 | LOVELL, CRAIG | Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063843 | /0544 | |
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| Aug 26 2019 | Thermodynamic Design, LLC | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
| Apr 17 2023 | CHRISTIANSEN, BRADLEY | Thermodynamic Design, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063794 | /0945 | |
| Apr 25 2023 | VOCK, MICHAEL | Thermodynamic Design, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063794 | /0945 | |
| May 01 2023 | WOHLSTADTER, JACOB N | Thermodynamic Design, LLC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 063794 | /0945 |
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